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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25002598">i’ll go (wherever you will go)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest'>seekrest</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cheeseburgers as bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst, Morgan Stark Needs a Hug (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Uncle Happy Hogan, its just me and my whims now, they all do lets be honest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:35:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25002598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He turns away from the lake, more superpowered beings than Happy thinks he’s ever seen at once all still congregated together. </p><p>If Tony was here, he’d be mouthing off some smart remark about how their feet would leave tracks in the yard - rolling his eyes and then elbowing Happy about kicking them out. </p><p>But Tony wasn’t here, Happy trying to swallow down the lump in his throat at the realization that for every single time that he’d thought he’d lost Tony, this was the one time when it was actually real.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Happy Hogan &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i’ll go (wherever you will go)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Watched Endgame for the 87272th time and that scene™️ between Happy and Morgan hit me like a train. Ergo, 5k of Happy making good on his promise to give her all the cheeseburgers she wants.</p><p>Shoutout to blondsak and gruoch who always encourage me to follow my whims, no matter how niche they may be :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Happy looked out over the lake, feeling raw - like all it would take is another slight breeze to set him off again. He wasn’t much for crying, never had been. </p><p>Listening to his best friend’s holographic goodbye, watching as the arc reactor that had both saved him and set him off towards a journey that led to its inevitable end float across the lake was more than Happy could handle on a good day - much less now - at what felt like both the end and the beginning of everything.</p><p>He turns away from the lake, more superpowered beings than Happy thinks he’s ever seen at once all still congregated together. If Tony was here, he’d be mouthing off some smart remark about how their feet would leave tracks in the yard - rolling his eyes and then elbowing Happy about kicking them out. </p><p>But Tony <em> wasn’t </em>here, Happy trying to swallow down the lump in his throat at the realization that for every single time that he’d thought he’d lost Tony, this was the one time when it was actually real. </p><p>He walks quietly up the cabin steps and towards the door before thinking better of it, blinking a few times before settling down on the bench on the porch. </p><p>Pepper was inside along with Morgan, Rhodey and May - catching a glimpse of Peter still looking out over the lake. </p><p>As awful as this was for Happy - and it was really <em> fucking </em> awful - he knew it had to be worse on the kid, disappearing for five years that to him must’ve felt like an instant - only to come back to watch Tony die. </p><p>Happy closes his eyes, trying and failing to take a stable breath at the thought of that day. </p><p>He could still remember the shock he felt while watching the mid-morning news, people reappearing on camera to the surprised cries of everyone around them. Happy hadn’t even had a chance to react before the glowing circle had appeared in his living room - Pepper encased around a suit that Happy hadn’t seen before - asking if he would watch Morgan before she went off to fight. </p><p>Happy was quick to agree as Morgan plopped beside him on his couch - the circle disappearing and Pepper along with it, still reeling from the realization that Tony’s plan had actually worked. </p><p><em> “This could be the real one, Hap,” </em> Tony had told him over the phone, only days then from when they enacted a plan that Happy hadn’t been told the details of and didn’t care to. </p><p>He blinked away the memory now, thrown out of it by the sound of the screen door opening and closing - glancing up only to see Morgan peeking out from the door. </p><p>“Hey kiddo,” Happy says softly, tapping the space beside him on the bench. Morgan walks up to him, curling up beside him in a mirror of the same position they’d been in not even three days before. </p><p>She pulls her legs closer to her, draping her dress over her knees as her legs bob back and forth, Happy feeling his throat tighten again. </p><p>The day that changed everything might’ve been cause for celebration for trillions, but to Happy all he could think of was what it would mean for Morgan. A sharp, stabbing pain in his chest erupted that Tony wouldn’t ever get to see his daughter grow up. </p><p>Morgan had been a saving grace, a lighthouse in a storm that not even Pepper had been able to handle. Happy had seen Tony through nearly every major event in his adult life yet it was the birth of his daughter that had changed something in him.</p><p>Morgan was hope, in her name and as a concept - a way for Tony to move forward in a time when it was unthinkable, still reeling from an unimaginable grief. </p><p>Losing had never suited Tony. Had it not been for Morgan and Pepper, Happy wondered if Tony would’ve carried on at all. </p><p>Yet he had, a final victory that in this moment - felt anything but. </p><p>He swallows down his grief once once more, putting an arm around her as he asks, “How you doing, Squirt?” </p><p>“Good,” Morgan answers quietly, playing with her dress. </p><p>“You good?” Happy asks again, Morgan nodding as she says, “Mm-hmm.”</p><p>“Okay, you hungry?” </p><p>Morgan nods again, Happy staring down at her as he asks, “What do you want?” </p><p>Morgan looks away from him then, playing with her dress before softly replying, “Cheeseburgers.” </p><p>A thousand memories rush past him in an instant - from the first time he’d ever picked up cheeseburgers for Tony when he’d first hired him all the way to the last time Happy actually saw him, bringing a burger from the city as they caught up a few weeks back. </p><p>Happy leans his head back, blinking a few times as he tries to catch his breath. “You know, your dad liked cheeseburgers.”</p><p>“Okay,” Morgan replies, still playing with her dress as if she hadn’t said the one word that threatened to break his crumbling resolve. </p><p>The cool October air sends a breeze just then, the casual way she’s responding making Happy wonder if she truly understood what had happened this week only to immediately banish the thought. </p><p>Of course she didn’t, Morgan had been born into a world of unfathomable loss but to her, secluded from everything in a quiet cabin made that much quieter by Tony’s absence - the last week had to have been the most exciting and terrifying than she’s probably ever lived. </p><p>It was horrifically unfair, that her world had to be upended to save everyone else’s. </p><p>Happy lets his head rest against the cabin’s wall once more as he glances out over the lake. He makes a promise to himself then, the only kind of promise he can - knowing that the world of superheroes and battles would always be a little beyond him. </p><p>He’d never been tapped for greatness, not like Tony, Rhodey or even Pepper had been. The one time he’d tried had sent him into the hospital, still remembering the guilt he’d seen in Tony’s eyes when he’d finally recovered. </p><p>But he could do this - look out for Tony’s kid in the same way he’d looked out after Tony, seeing Peter still off in the distance. Happy can hear the waver in his own voice when he finally replies, “I’m gonna get you all the cheeseburgers you want.” </p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>It’s quiet for a few moments before he glances down at her, smiling as Morgan smiles back. </p><p>Her brown eyes are so much like Tony’s that it makes Happy’s heart ache, blinking back a few tears as he says, “Come on, let’s go see if Peter is hungry too.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“What does akitted mean?” Morgan asks, Happy pausing mid-chew. Morgan’s focused on the french fry she’s just dipped into her ketchup, Happy watching as she studies it in a look that’s eerily similar to Tony’s. </p><p>“Akitted? Happy asks, watching as Morgan shoves the french fry in her mouth, “Where’d you hear that?” </p><p>“Mommy said it on the phone,” she replies, pinching some of her french fries before dipping them in more ketchup. </p><p>Realization dawns on him then, a grim smile on his face as he says, “Do you mean acquitted?” </p><p>Morgan nods as if that’s exactly what she’d said, eyes dancing up to Happy before grabbing her cheeseburger. </p><p>“Well, acquitted means that if someone accused you of something but then it’s not true,” Happy says, trying to guess how much Morgan actually cared about the situation or whether it would be worth trying to explain something as complex as international courtroom dramas to a six year old. </p><p>“Like when mommy thought I ate the last of juice pop but it was really Gerald?” Morgan asks, looking up to Happy as he smiled and nodded.</p><p>“Yeah, exactly like that squirt.”</p><p>Morgan looks content with that explanation, picking up her burger with her tiny little fingers as Happy’s mind goes to Peter and the summer vacation from hell that had started all of it.</p><p>Happy should’ve guessed that it was asking too much of the universe to have some semblance of peace after Tony died. They’d had a quiet few months - if you could even call it that - before he’d gotten a frantic call from Peter to fly out to somewhere in Europe to defeat an idiot with a grudge that was entirely misplaced, knowing Tony would roll over in his grave at the thought that his past was still coming back to bite his family in the ass. </p><p>Happy pushes that away as he stares at Morgan, now entirely focused on the burger in front of her as he smiled. </p><p>Things had worked out for Peter, all things considered. Still dating the girl he’d traveled across Europe for, <em> acquitted </em> of all murder charges and starting his senior year of high school - secret identity still intact thanks to some creative manuvering from the press team at SI and some alien shit that Happy still didn’t care to know the details of. </p><p>But for all of those changes, Happy was more concerned with the one in front of them - the reason for why he’d brought Morgan out to his favorite little hole in the wall coming back to the forefront as he asks, “Speaking of Gerald, you excited to see him next weekend?”</p><p>Morgan shrugs again, chewing at her burger before looking up to Happy. “I don’t know, I guess.”</p><p>“I know he’s excited to see you,” Happy says with a smile, forced considering he and the overgrown alpaca didn’t really get along, “Uncle Bruce says he does a little dance anytime he talks about you.”</p><p>“He does?” Morgan asks, showing a little more interest at the thought - Happy’s heart constricting at the way her expression changes, “I thought he’d forgotten about me.”</p><p>Happy sighs, tilting his head as he quickly says, “No, Mo. Of course he wouldn’t forget about you.”</p><p>Morgan looks pleased at that, taking another bite of her burger as Happy sighs. Of all the changes that had happened in her life the past two years, this had to be the biggest one - the move out from the cabin and back to the city that Happy had seen coming a mile away even if it took Pepper much longer to fully accept it.</p><p>“I can’t do it anymore, Hap,” Pepper had said to him one night when he’d dropped Morgan off after taking her out for a trip to the city, “Anytime I turn a corner, I keep thinking that he…” She’d trailed off, Happy understanding immediately.</p><p>Moving out to the cabin - after the end of everything - had been a move borne out of a need for solitude, a chance to get away from the crippling grief surrounding the world, much less in their own hearts. The cabin now just served as a reminder for all that they lost - the massive homestead feeling that much emptier because of the larger than life person who was no longer there to inhabit it. </p><p>That combined with Pepper’s increasing focus on utilizing SI’s extensive resources to help rebuild a world that two years later, still felt like it was recovering from the ramifications of the Blip, made their move back to the city inevitable. </p><p>But with that came the logistics of moving Morgan - torn away from the only home that she’d ever known and adjusting to a brand new one, something that Happy knows would ultimately be good for her considering the lack of kids her own age she’d come into contact with. </p><p>“Are we going to the zoo today?” Morgan asks, throwing Happy out of his thoughts.</p><p>“If you want to squirt, wherever you wanna go.”</p><p>Morgan chews while she considers, putting her burger down before saying, “I wanna go to the art museum.”</p><p>“Which one?” Happy asks, “You want to go to the one with the weird building or--”</p><p>“The one with the star picture,” Morgan says, Happy trying to wrack his brain to try and figure out which star picture it could be “that looks like fingerpaints.”</p><p>Happy smiles then, remembering the last time they’d visited MoMa and how completely disinterested Morgan had been in it then. Happy wasn’t one for museums for the most part and never had been, but his brief fling with May had opened his eyes in more ways than one. </p><p>The relationship may not have lasted but like many things in his life, he’d accumulated enough information about the arts and culture hot spots of New York that he could pass. </p><p>“You mean <em> Starry Night </em>?” Happy asks, Morgan shrugging again. “Yeah, Mo. We can go there.”</p><p>“Can Paloma come?” Morgan asks, Happy furrowing his eyebrows as he asks, “Who’s Paloma?”</p><p>“She’s my new friend,” Morgan replies, playing again with her fries, “Can she come?”</p><p>“Maybe not today,” Happy says carefully, glad in some sense that she was making friends at the ridiculously expensive elementary school that she was enrolled in but still wary of the people there. </p><p>Pepper had done her homework, as she had with anything she’s ever done in her life, before enrolling her into school. And while Happy was glad that Morgan would have some kind of socialization beyond that damn alpaca, a flare of protectiveness wrapped around him at the idea that someone could want to take advantage of her. </p><p>But Morgan seems completely oblivious to Happy’s hesitancy as she says, “Okay.”</p><p>Happy studies her for a moment before she looks back up at him, smiling again as if she didn’t have a care in the world. In some sense, Happy knows that can’t possibly be true. </p><p>Yet Morgan seems completely at ease and relaxed, Happy wondering if he was just projecting problems onto her that she didn’t carry - even if there was a voice that whispered to him in the back of his mind that if she didn’t have them yet, it was only a matter of time.</p><p>“Are you going to eat those?” Morgan asks, pointing to the bed of french fries still piled high on his plate.</p><p>Happy laughs, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, worry about your own food.”</p><p>Morgan giggles, the sound of it loosening the pressure in Happy’s chest.</p><p>He’d have to double check with Pepper about this Paloma - and any other friend that Morgan might make. </p><p>It felt right. If Tony was here, Happy knew he would’ve done the same. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He can hear the door slam just as much as he feels it, looking up at the rear view mirror as he asks, “Bad day?” </p><p>“Can we just go?” Morgan mutters, folding her arms together in a pout. Happy stares at her reflection for a beat before his phone buzzes, catching the message from Pepper that flashes across the screen.</p><p>“We need to talk.”</p><p>Happy’s fingers flex, an involuntary motion to reach for it. But then he sees Morgan catching his eye in the rear view mirror - a look that’s so strikingly similar to Tony that it makes his heart skip a beat - as she says, “Happy?”</p><p>“Yeah squirt?”</p><p>“Can we go to Sal’s today instead of Jim’s?” She asks, unfolding her arms as she starts to play with the ends of her skirt.</p><p>Happy frowns, furrowing his eyebrows as he says, “I thought you hated the fries at Sal’s. Told me last time you never want to go back there again.”</p><p>Morgan bites her lip, Happy’s phone buzzing again. He looks down to it and his stomach rolls, Morgan’s attitude and her sudden turnaround making all the sense in the world as he reads Pepper’s message.</p><p>“I told her about James.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Hap—“</p><p>“Nope,” Harold put a hand up, hearing Rhodey’s sigh as he paced back and forth, “I don’t want to hear it.” </p><p>“Happy, come on,” Rhodey tries to say, Happy quickly shaking his head - trying and failing to swallow down the conflicted emotions he’s feeling just then.</p><p>“It’s <em> Pepper </em>, Jim. How could you even—“</p><p>“It’s not like we planned it,” Rhodey interjects, Happy glancing over to him and seeing the pleading in his eyes, “trust me, I’m the last person who would’ve ever thought that—“</p><p>“How long?” Happy asks, cutting Rhodey off. </p><p>Rhodey looks contemplative, sighing as he pinches the bridge of his nose. </p><p>“Long enough. I should've… I know I should’ve told you,” Rhodey begins, bringing his hand down as he searches Happy’s face, “I honestly thought you knew.”</p><p>“HOW do you think I--” Happy begins, taking a deep breath as he tries to calm down. He wasn’t <em> mad </em>, he couldn’t be - a part of him wondering if in some sense, Tony would be glad.</p><p>Happy exhales loudly before saying, “I didn’t know it was serious.”</p><p>Rhodey’s expression softens at that, staring into Happy’s eyes before nodding a few times. </p><p>“Yeah,” he says softly, “It is.”</p><p>Happy swallows down the conflicted emotions he feels, reminding himself that neither Pepper nor Rhodey were the kind of foolish people to jump into <em> anything </em> - much less a relationship with each other. </p><p>They’d only known each other because of someone who had been larger than life, it only made sense that in his absence - they’d find solace in each other. </p><p>Happy had read enough about grief, his own research and due diligence on how to be the best support he could be to Morgan and Pepper showing article after article of finding love after loss.</p><p>He’d expected it eventually - though he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. </p><p>Then again, Happy thinks - it really wasn’t so soon after all. </p><p>Happy forces a smile, one that deep down he knows will become genuine only with time as he says, “Then I’m happy for you guys.”</p><p>Rhodey searches his face for the lie but comes up empty, giving him a small smile before saying, “Thanks, Hap.”</p><p>“Does this mean you guys are going to go public or—“</p><p>“Oh no, God no I…” Rhodey sighs, rubbing his hands together, “We’re not ready for that, I don’t think.”</p><p>Happy nods like he understands - already dreading the litany of press and gossip that would surround the two of them, even if Tony had been gone for over ten years. </p><p>Sometimes, Happy forgot. He’d see something stupid that he knows Tony would’ve gotten a kick out of, goes to reach for his phone only to remember - the world all snapping into focus when he realizes that the person he’s going to tell hasn’t heard anything in years.</p><p>Tony would want this - aside from wanting to be alive himself. If he had the choice, Happy thinks - Tony would’ve been glad that Rhodey was the one Pepper decided to move forward with. </p><p>It was horrifically unfair, in more ways than one - that Happy had a front seat for every major event of his best friend’s life. Especially now, the quiet realization that he’s known for years. </p><p>Tony may have been <em> his </em> best friend, but <em> Rhodey </em> had been Tony’s.</p><p>“Whatever you guys decide,” Happy says quietly, “I’m with you.”</p><p>Rhodey studies him for a beat, searching his face in a look that breaks at something in Happy’s heart - not approval but an appreciation, solidarity between brothers who were missing the one who brought them together.</p><p>“Thanks, Hap. That really means a lot.”</p><p>“As for Morgan, she’s— she’s just gonna need some time. With everything.” </p><p>Rhodey nods because of course he understands - understands just as well as Happy does that while this isn’t the life any of them would’ve chosen, this is the life that <em> is </em>.</p><p>Happy wasn’t a super hero, couldn’t change anything worth a damn.</p><p>But he could continue to be there for Morgan, let her vent her anger and frustrations and listen - just as he had for Tony. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Happy doesn’t hear the phone ring at first, rubbing a hand over his face as he reaches for it.</p><p>“Hogan,” he mumbles into the phone, only to snap to attention when he hears the voice on the other line.</p><p>“Happy?”</p><p>“What’s wrong? Where are you?” He asks, back screaming at him as he leans up and off the bed - already fumbling around to grab a shirt and some shoes as Morgan sniffles on the other line.</p><p>“I’m at Jim’s.” </p><p>Happy stops, blinking a few times as his eyes readjust to the darkness. “Jim’s? Burger shop Jim’s?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Happy puts his phone in the space between his neck and his shoulder, putting on a pair of real pants as he says, “Okay are you hurt? What’s going on?”</p><p>“Can you just-- can you come?”</p><p>Morgan sounds… <em> broken </em>, a tone in her voice that sounds painfully familiar even now. It causes Happy’s heart to skip a beat, swallowing down the panic in his voice as he says, “Yeah squirt of course. I’ll be right there.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He gets to Jim’s in record time, car squealing into the parking lot as he comes to a stop. </p><p>In the time it’s taken to get there, he’s ran through the gamut of trying to understand what exactly prompted Morgan to be out at a 24 hour burger joint at one in the morning - debating with himself if he should let Pepper know what was happening until he had the full picture, considering she was in Japan and Peter was the one who was supposed to be babysitting her. </p><p>Morgan would’ve bristled at Happy referencing it as that - a roll of her eyes and a flippant handwave that gave no doubt to whose daughter that she was. But for as grown as she seemed to think she was at sixteen, Happy’s conscience ruled out, sending Pepper a quick voice text to let her know that Morgan and Peter had a fight but that everything was going to be okay. </p><p>Peter himself had called Happy several times it seems, frantic voicemails and an even more frantic phone call - Happy trying to get Peter to calm down enough to assure that Morgan seemed okay. </p><p>In the twenty minutes it takes to get the burger joint, Peter tells him everything - coming in from his patrol not nearly as stealthily as he planned, Morgan walking in on him patching himself up in the bathroom, leading to a screaming match that led her to her storming out - Peter still trying to stitch himself together when she did. </p><p>He does the mental math and wonders if Pepper’s in a meeting, hoping that by the time she sees the message Happy will have a little more to go on as he exits the car and makes his way into the burger joint.</p><p>It’s quiet and relatively empty, save for the graveyard shift. Happy’s been here so many times that he can probably name every cook, catching the waitress who worked there for as long as Happy can remember.</p><p>“Hey Hogan, you missing someone?” </p><p>“Marla,” Happy says, nodding towards his usual booth. “She over there?”</p><p>Marla nods, a sad smile on her face. “Poor thing hasn’t said a word. She’s safe though. Ain’t nobody messed with her. Made sure of it.”</p><p>Happy shoots her a grateful smile, Marla’s frizzy and curly red hair swishing as she turns away - another customer grabbing her attention. Happy walks towards his booth, catching Morgan staring into her milkshake. </p><p>“Hey squirt.”</p><p>Morgan looks up at him, big brown eyes filled with tears as she whispers, “Hi Happy.”</p><p>“Can I sit?”</p><p>She seems to think about it for a second before nodding, Happy groaning as he slides into the rickety old booth. </p><p>They sit there in silence for a few moments, Morgan slurping some of her milkshake before Happy asks, “You wanna tell me what’s going on?”</p><p>“It’s nothing,” Morgan says with a frown. “I’m fine. I’ll go back to Peter’s in a minute.”</p><p>“You shouldn’t have left Peter’s at <em> all </em>, kiddo,” Happy says gently, only for Morgan’s eyes to flash with something that’s painfully familiar.</p><p>“I’m fine. I’m sorry I called you,” she says, her voice low - a sign to Happy that she was trying her hardest not to cry.</p><p>“You know you can call me about anything. Anywhere, any time, any place,” Happy says, Morgan’s eyes shifting up to his. “I’ll be there.”</p><p>Morgan sniffles at that, eyes boring into his for a moment before nodding and saying, “Yeah Hap. I know.”</p><p>“You wanna talk about what happened?” He asks, Morgan’s gaze hardening as she asks, “What did Peter tell you?”</p><p>“I wanna hear what you say happened, kiddo,” Happy replies, Morgan staring at him so unflinchingly, so much like Pepper that it unnerves him until she finally relents and looks away.</p><p>“It’s nothing. It’s-- it’s stupid.”</p><p>“Nothing you’re feeling is stupid.”</p><p>“You don’t even know what I’m feeling,” Morgan counters, a bite in her words that’s Tony incarnate as Happy just nods.</p><p>“You’re right, I don’t. I want to but,” he sighs, “you gotta help me out here kid.”</p><p>Morgan falters at that, eyes firmly back on her milkshake as she taps her fingers against the table. </p><p>It’s quiet for another minute before she finally speaks. </p><p>“He and MJ broke up again.”</p><p>Happy absorbs that information, his mind trying to connect the dots for why that would lead to an argument when she laughs - a harsh and bitter sound. </p><p>“He’s such a dumbass.” </p><p>“Mo…” Happy begins, Morgan’s eyes snapping up to meet him as she says, “No he is. He’s-- he’s…”</p><p>She presses her lips together, Happy watching as she physically seems to shut down. Happy tries to stop that from happening, leaning forward.</p><p>“He’s what, squirt?”</p><p>“He’s so <em> stupid </em> ,” she says through gritted teeth, Happy seeing the tears in her eyes. “He-- he doesn’t even see himself. He got <em> shot </em> tonight Happy and he had-- he had no one. No one but <em> me </em> and I don’t--” Morgan stops, pursing her lips together. </p><p>“It’s not fair you know?” </p><p>Happy waits, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he asks, “Fair?”</p><p>“It’s not fair, Happy. He— he’s wasting this.”</p><p>“Wasting?” Happy asks as he clears his throat, Morgan’s expression hard as she nods.</p><p>“He—“ Morgan cuts herself off, swallowing something down in her throat as Happy watches.</p><p>It was eerie, how much Morgan reminded him of Tony. A flippant remark, the way she’d move her hands, her smile. There was so much of Pepper in her too - a fierceness that was unmatched, a kindness that would appear out of nowhere, decisiveness that didn’t surprise him in the least.</p><p>Staring at her now, watching as a flood of emotions pass over her face, <em> this </em> wasn’t something inherited by anybody. This was the part of Morgan that was uniquely her own, cultivated and developed from the life experience of living in the shadow of a larger than life father who essentially achieved sainthood in death.</p><p>“He shouldn’t have let her go,” Morgan finally says, mouth twisting before bringing her eyes back up to Happy.</p><p>Happy knew that Morgan liked Michelle, they all did. The on again/off again part of their relationship was a running joke between him and May now, their own fling having long passed into a comfortable friendship bound together by a kid who wasn’t a kid anymore. Michelle brought out the best in Peter and from all Happy could tell, Peter did the same for her. Watching their dynamic throughout the years reminded him a little too much of Tony and Pepper, Happy guessing that they’d figure it out between the two of them eventually. </p><p>But there’s more to it than that from what Happy can sense, his mind working into overdrive as Morgan sighs, as if she was holding the weight of the world before whispering, “I don’t want him to end up like my dad.” </p><p>It hits Happy still, a pain that had healed itself over into a scar now feeling like it was a gaping wound. It all clicks into place then, the conflict on Morgan’s face making more sense as the seconds pass.</p><p>Morgan’s jealousy of Peter wasn’t new - remembering another screaming match not even a month ago, Happy taking her on a ride throughout the city as he let her vent.</p><p>She was right - it <em> wasn’t </em> fair that of all the people who knew her dad, she couldn’t be counted among them. Happy had years of memories with Tony, as did Pepper and James. Even May and Peter, two late additions to Tony’s life - two people who weren’t even in existence during Morgan’s first few years - had more of a memory and a connection to Tony than she had. </p><p>She didn’t know Tony, not really. Her outburst brought out by everyone casually sharing memories and the sinking feeling that the few she had couldn’t even be trusted - Morgan telling Happy later she wasn’t even sure if she remembered Tony or had just created her memory based on the stories she’d been told.</p><p>But this - tonight, with Peter - wasn’t borne of jealousy, but a different kind of anger. An anger that Happy expected would come sooner rather than later. </p><p>An anger that Happy understood. </p><p>Flying a missile off into the sky. A house crashing into the Pacific. A ship sent off into space. Anytime there was danger, Tony flung himself towards it - the very thing that took him away from Morgan being a noble and heroic thing but at the expense of leaving her behind.</p><p>It’s something Happy still isn’t sure how to reconcile himself with, sitting on the sidelines as Peter threw himself towards danger. The scale was never as big as Tony’s but it was just as personal, just as earth shattering to get a call in the middle of the night and wonder if that’ll be the time when your world has changed all over again.</p><p>Morgan was born into a world left behind, lived in the shadow of a father who died as a hero and a mother who helped save the rest of it. </p><p>Of course she would be angry at the one person who should know intimately what a world would be like for the people left behind. The one person who should know better than to push away the people he loves when they’re the only ones who makes life worth it.</p><p>Happy has the presence of mind not to lie to her, not just for her age but for the reality of what Peter’s line of work would spell out for him.</p><p>Instead he asks, “Did you tell Peter that?”</p><p>Morgan frowns, looking a lot younger as she says, “No.”</p><p>Happy sighs, shooting Morgan a look. </p><p>“Kid’s smart but he’s not a mind reader, squirt. If you told him how you felt, he’d listen.”</p><p>“He’s not a kid anymore,” Morgan says, Happy hearing the words she doesn’t say loud and clear. </p><p>“I know and neither are you,” Happy says pointedly, “running off to Jim’s in the middle of the night? Feel like it’s that seventh grade sleepover all over again.”</p><p>Morgan makes a face. “That was different. Dina Frazier was—“</p><p>“Let’s walk down memory lane in the car huh kid?” Happy says, head nodding towards the door. “Can’t stay here any longer without ordering something or Marla will be on my ass.”</p><p>Morgan smirks at that, a flash of a best friend long gone as she says, “Maybe you should. Marla’s nice. And single.”</p><p>“Okay yeah, time to go,” Happy grumbles, Morgan snickering as she exits out of the booth. He pays for her milkshake in cash, ignoring the wiggle of Morgan’s eyebrow as he does so.</p><p>It’s not till they’re outside and almost to the car that Morgan finally says, “Thanks Happy.”</p><p>Happy looks at her, seeing the storm written all over her face - complex emotions that no teenager should ever have, much less for someone who deserved far better than the universe dared to give her. </p><p>In that moment, Happy sees the years of burger adventures just like this starting from the funeral and yet also beyond - an ache in his chest that out of all the people she could have chosen to call, Morgan chose him.</p><p>It’s a fulfillment of a promise he made years ago, even if a part of him knew that this was in a way - only the beginning.</p><p>Morgan had so much life left to live, a spectator and a participant to the world of superheroes and greatness. The name Morgan Stark carried a specific kind of baggage, one that Happy had seen live and in technicolor before - a hope out to the universe that her life would turn out to be so much longer and brilliant than his.</p><p>Happy didn’t know what was to come for Morgan, what new twists and changes the universe would give for the lives of the people she loved and who loved her. </p><p>But he promised he’d be there - every step of the way. </p><p>A promise that Happy intends on keeping, no matter what happens next. </p><p>“Course squirt,” Happy says with a sad smile. “Come on, let's take you home.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kudos and comments are always appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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